


5 Kids and Counting ( dead fic )

by expng (orphan_account)



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Family Drama, Family Shenanigans, Gen, Light Angst, Sibling Rivalry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-08
Updated: 2019-05-08
Packaged: 2020-02-28 12:29:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18756469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/expng
Summary: ehhh not gonna continue this





	1. Birthday

**Author's Note:**

> Finally, here's a real fic! Gonna keep it relatively lighthearted and fun, definetly multi-chapter. No slash, just the homunculus siblings being gremlins.

Father had always made a big deal about introducing new members of the family.  
Everyone's experience was largely the same- save perhaps Envy, who always seemed to change their story, and Wrath, who wasn't _really_ a homunculus, rather, a human chosen to bear that mantle.

While the others found meaning and self importance in their creation, as Father would want, Sloth was, by nature, entirely unsentimental about it.  
Maybe even resentful, given the fifthborn's sullen and quiet disposition, but no one is quite sure.

He didn't even remember most of it- there was that brief, deafening clamor of souls as they departed from Father, forming his own body.  
The four elder siblings of his were waiting, as Father asked, to greet him, but he paid them little attention.  
It was too bright, he felt so tired, as though bearing the first few moments of life alone were a terrible and draining task.

Father was speaking, insisted once or twice that he listen, but he did not do so. Long, winding shadows bearing eyes and rows of gleaming teeth loomed above, and the other three more... almost human looking figures gawked and chattered below. Siblings. Like him. Two brothers and a sister. 

The tall one with sharp teeth and windswept hair gave him a disinterested, almost sleezy gaze, making a comment to the man speaking.

" Well, " Greed said.  
" He looks a little odd to me, but he's not as bad as the last one! " He said with a cheeky grin, extending a hand to tousle his new younger brother's thin, black hair.

The comment immediately caused the shorter, scantly clad one, with a hint of green scales on their skin as a result of unskilled shapshifting, to start _shouting_.

" _WHAT_ is _THAT_ supposed to mean?! GREED, IM GONNA _WRING_ YOUR NECK!! " Envy bellowed, wasting no time in tackling Greed before the two engaged in a full fledged fight. Greed seemed to be rather unmoved by it, laughing off the hits that failed to penetrate his stony skin. 

The scuffle only lasted a few seconds before Father put an end to their bickering- He always hated to see his children fight.

The last of the three who had stood before Sloth was entirely unfazed by all the clamor. She merely studied him with a careful gaze, crossing her arms as she adressed father with concern in her voice.

" Father, Greed may have had a point. " Lust began.  
" You seem to be having... difficulty, in making your newest children. They dont appear as human as the rest of us- Pride has his container that lets him hide among men, and at least Envy can change his form... Surely you didnt intend to make Sloth so monstrous looking? " She said in regard to her brother's razor sharp maw, missing eye and ridiculous stature. 

Father was beginning to concern her, and as the second eldest it only felt right for her to address it.

Father didn't quite know what to say. Did his daughter just criticize him? He supposed she was right, though. The more sins he removed from his soul, the less control he had over their resulting appearances.  
Gluttony wouldn't suffer too much from this, but Wrath.. It would be dangerous to allow that much room for error. But Sloth... Sloth would have to be kept in hiding. There was no way he could do any of Father's bidding outside of the tunnel, looking like this.

" Worry not, Lust. " Father waved dismissively.  
" That wont be a problem, given his line of work. Appropriate measures will be taken in regard to your final two siblings. " He didn't know just what they would have to be, but he would work that out in good time.

" For now, you may all return to your duties while preparations are made to begin the circle. And keep an eye on your new brother. "  
With that, Father dismissed them and returned to his throne, children left to their own devices.

Envy and Greed sighed- they didn't want to have the new responsibility of watching the new baby of the family- but they knew it would fall to them. Lust was currently busy with human affairs, and Pride... They couldnt even pay that arrogant brat to do any kind of " peasant work " like that, and they KNEW that he would put that responsibility on their hands just because he could.

Lust was already gone, but... they didnt see pride anymore, so silently they decided to ditch the place and sneak off. 

Unsurprisingly, they didnt get very far. As soon as they reached the lair's exit, a massive wall of eyes and teeth stood in their way.

" Envy.. Greed... Arent you forgetting something? " Pride said dangerously.  
Envy looked down, but Greed decided to play coy.

" Hmm.. I dunno big bro. Did we leave the oven on? " He gave a mockingly innocent face. Needless to say, they didnt even have an oven.

Pride glared.  
" Dont play with me, Greed. Father said to watch over Sloth. Im busy, Lust is busy, this is a job for you two. Get. To. It. "

Greed groaned in dismay.  
" Pride, you ALWAYS put these jobs on us. Actually, on ME!! I had to watch Envy, why do I have to watch Sloth? What's he gonna do anyways? Hes already asleep! "

Envy gave an offended scoff at Greed for that remark- as if they were ever any trouble! Well.. To be fair, they were. They took every opprotuinity to pummel Greed in hopes of catching him without that stupid shield, and damned if all they wanted wasnt to make Greed's life hell. 

" Stop whining. Its Father's word AND mine that you do this. Further disobedience will not be tolerated- YOU are already on VERY thin ice Greed. We all know youve been making 'friends' with the humans and that is NOT what Father has asked of you. Envy will carry this responsibility as well, so you have nothing to complain about. Consider yourself lucky. Besides, Sloth wont even be around that long before he must begin Fathers excavation. Youre just being petulant. " 

The two of them had no choice as Pride lectured and lectured until finally taking leave to go do whatever it was he thought was so much more important than them. 

Greed and Envy exchanged glares and looked back at their brother, who had uncaringly planted facedown on the floor to sleep.  
They could make this work, right?


	2. Patience is Virtue

Sloth found himself being woken from the sweet, brief nirvana of sleep, slowly blinking as he looked around to see what had roused him.  
It was Envy. But why?  
He squinted, tilting his head inquisitively at the shorter homunculus, trying to focus as sleep ever so slowly relinquished its hold on him.

" Get up. " Envy demanded, to no avail.

Get up? Why should he? 

" Didn't you hear me? I said get up! We have to watch you now, so _you`re_ gonna get a move on. We're not watching you sleep! "

Sloth merely blinked at his older brother, clearly unmoved, showing absolutely no signs of having even registered the demand. Silently, he wondered why Envy was being so crass with him. Sleep was good, maybe Envy was just missing out on it. With that, Sloth laid his head back down and closed his eye again without a single word spoken.

Envy huffed, looking at Greed in confusion. Sloth was supposed to obey him! Answer! Anything! Greed shrugged and crouched down to Sloth's level.

" Kiddo.. " Greed chuckled, trying to take the cooler approach to it.  
" As much as I hate to say it, Envy's right. We're not sitting here all day while you do nothing. Dont you want something? to do anything? Father really didn't put any spirit into you, huh? " Greed said, nudging his brother, limp and lifeless on the ground.

Again, Sloth gave no reply, but did consider the question. Of course he wanted to do something- he wanted to sleep. And he would be doing just that if the others would _let him be._

" What, is he mute? Say something! " Envy barked, growing increasingly frustrated.  
They wondered why would Father put all that work into making another child, just for it to essentially be a glorified boulder, but they did remember something Lust said about the lack of.. quality, in their younger brother.

Shoving Greed aside, who in turn engaged them in another brief scuffle, Envy crouched down in frontaof their brother in Greed's place to snatch a handful of Sloth's hair, peeling his face off the floor and directing his gaze to meet theirs.

" I don't know what your problem is, or why you're so dead set on being stubborn, " Envy gave a sardonic chuckle.  
" But you can either meet us halfway and get UP, or we can do things the hard way. I'd be more than happy to oblige the second scenario at this rate. " They said, eager to resort to such things if it meant they didnt have to be stuck in the lair forever.

Greed laughed at Envy's seriousness, thinking he was being excessive.  
" Aw knock it off, Vee. You dont hafta be so mean about it. There's no fun in being so hard on him. "  
Well, for Envy, there was plenty of fun to be had in it, but that just wasn't Greed's style. He preferred to smooth talk and sway and be cordial in situations with people. His younger siblings were like possessions to him, so he didnt really want to build _bad_ relationships with them. Envy was an exception though, they were complicated; their bond was a love-hate relationship from the start.

Sloth again just... blinked. What did Envy mean by that? Why were they so dead set on harassing him? A long moment of silence dragged on as Envy and Greed stared back at Sloth expectantly.

Sloth let out a long, heavy sigh- the first reaction the two had gotten out of him. They watched intently as he actually moved, massive arms hefting the giant up from the floor to a sitting position, one leg hiked up to rest his elbow upon. He stared down at them from behind long black wisps of hair, eye half lidded and head hanging slack, finally directing his concious attention towards his elder siblings.

Envy and Greed exchanged looks. Well, they were getting somewhere now weren't they? 

Greed smiled.  
" Father's creation lives! " His exclamation was laden with sarcasm.  
Envy scowled, unsatisfied with the painstakingly slow progress. They just wanted to go run around the tunnels, catch chimeras, pester Greed and terrorize stray humans as usual but no, of course Father and Pride had to spoil their fun.

Father should have made preparations for the countrywide transmutation circle before creating Sloth, Envy thought. Having him around now was proving to be nothing but an inconvenience. They still didn't understand why it needed to be like this. None of them were created defenseless, weak or without basic knowledge, it wasn't like they were actual children.  
The only reason Envy themself ever needed anyone around was to help them learn how to shapeshift... They were pretty good at it now too. Almost totally indiscernible from a normal human being.

After another few minutes of coaxing, they finally got Sloth up. 

" Finally! Let's GO already! I've had enough of this place and I'm not waiting around for him to catch up! " Came an exasperated Envy, who had grown antsy and irritated, like a pent up dog. Greed's patience had worn thin as well, but he was happy to finally be getting out of the lair.

They had taken not two steps out the door before a thundering crash came before them out of seemingly nowhere, and a section of the lair began to collapse down on them.  
Thinking they were being attacked, Greed summoned his Ultimate Shield and Envy had shapeshifted his arms into weapons, but soon enough the two of them found this to be unnecessary.

When the dust cleared, all that was left was... Sloth. Sitting in the rubble looking dazed and just as confused as the rest of them.

" What the hell _was_ that?! " Envy squawked, trying to piece together what had just happened. They didnt have enough time to do so before it happened again, and they were caught up in it.

There was NO way Sloth had just moved that fast.

Envy was winded, scrambling to get out from underneath him as they landed in the wall again.

" GREED!! DO SOMETHING!!! "

" Like WHAT?! Just STOP MOVING!! "

That they did- and eyes turned to Sloth in search of some kind of explanation.

" Too... fast... ? " Sloth mumbled, trying to peice it together himself. All he did was move, but doing so launched him at breakneck speeds that he had no way of controlling.

" .... No kidding. " Greed said, rubbing the back of his neck.  
" Cant you just like, walk slower? "

Sloth stared at him with vacant eyes. It went without saying that if he could have, he would have. But why couldnt he?  
"..... Can't. " Sloth replied, getting tired of talking already.

" That's bullshit- you're kidding! " Envy said.  
" Father's gotta hear about this, its his problem if his creations are faulty. Lust was right about him. "  
They didn't usually want to insult Father like that, but it was more of Sloth's problem than Father's error in their book.

" Father wouldn't like to hear you say such things, Envy. " Came Lust's smooth voice from down the tunnel corridor.  
" And what have you done to the basement? Don't tell me you two are going to start asking for my help again. You really must take more responsibility. " She chided, walking past them with some letters and what was obviously blood drying on her hands.

" Aw don't be like that, sis! You know you love us, there's no need to throw us under the bus. " Greed pouted, getting a scoff and soft chuckle from Lust in return.

" Don't push your luck, Greed. I'm curious though, what happened here? You and Envy weren't fighting again, were you? " She said, and Envy scampered up to have his word.

" It"s _Sloth's_ fault! He's the one who can't do anything right, he destroyed the whole wall because he rammed into it so fast! " They said, pointing to the 'assailant', who merely sat and dozed off, no longer concerned with the current situation.

" I see. " Lust nodded.  
" It appears he is no in full control of his gift, much like yourself when you first came around. " 

Envy snorted, offended at the accusation.  
" Oh, please. I've always been a GREAT shapeshifter. You all wouldn't know anything about my talent anyways, you cant even do it! " He said with clear arrogance.

Lust wasn't about to stoke the flames of Envy's obvious insecurity, so she moved on.

" The point is, there's nothing wrong with him. He just needs to learn to control his movement.Its hardly worth pestering Father over, but suit yourself. _Ive_ got to go take these to him. " She waved the letters and was off, heels clicking against the stone as she left to tend to business.

Neither Envy nor Greed really wanted to go see Father about this. They were half expecting an earful about how they cant do anything right, but that was a Pride thing. It was hard to tell what Father might say these days anyhow, he'd changed alot over the past few hundred years. 

Greed remembered that Father suddenly got alot nicer when he purged Envy from his soul, he wasn't sure what to expect with only Gluttony and Wrath remaining within him.

Deciding to just get it over with, Envy came up to snap his fingers and wake Sloth up again.

" Stop falling asleep, you slug. You've gotta go see Father, since apparently you're so totally _lost_ you cant even use his gift right. " They sneered.

" Hey, if Father fixes this then maybe we'll be out of eachother's hair, eh? Im sick of hanging around here with you kids, and I'm sure you're not any happier about it, right Sloth? " Greed said, in hopes of providing some incentive to combat Envy's bad attitude.

Sloth replied with some wordless grumble, irritated with the constant bothering and unhappy about having to get up and go places- which given the current situation will result in more unnecessary... Damage. He didn't really have much of a choice at this point though, if he didn't comply these two would never leave him alone. 

Again, complying with less resistance than before, Sloth rose from the rubble, letting Envy and Greed ( try to ) guide him to Father's throne room. Feeling they'd done their part, the two booked it and were gone before they could get dragged into anything more. 

Father was greeted with an arguably unpleasant surprise, another collapsed wall, and a child to mend. A few quick fixes, at least, although figuring out how to keep Sloth from wrecking the whole chamber was tricky, he came to find an acceptable solution. Weighing him down seemed to work just fine, even if it made him agonizingly slow.

" There you go, my son. I neglected to heed warning of your power. I did not expect it to have such a debilitating downside. " Father admitted, gently ruffling Sloth's jet locks as the homunculus looked over the new _accessory_ he'd been given. Chains. Heavy enough to slow him down but light enough to let him use his arms.

" And worry not, they shouldn't impede any work you'll be doing in the near future. Only a little longer here before you excavate the transmutation circle for me. " 

Father's voice was reassuring, but Sloth felt no comfort in those words.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the second chapter! A bit longer than the last ^^/
> 
> As in the previous chapter, theres alot of lesser-known canon stuff in here like Sloth not being able to control his speed at first/the reason behind his chains, which was from a character q&a thing that Shocotate on tumblr translated, as well as Father's deteriorating quality of work ( thats more of speculation though ) and personality ( another speculation with much more support than the last )
> 
> Also I might alternate between he and they pronouns for Envy simply because both are just as commonly used, so sorry for any confusion!
> 
> Just wanted to put that out there for the sake of answering at least those particular questions before they come xD  
> thank you for reading!


	3. Loose Ends

Father's plans were unfolding precisely as intended. This had been a good century so far, and once the excavation of his transmutation circle was under way, that would tie things up quite nicely. Unfortunately , the humans were making that part difficult.

Father thumbed through the stack of letters Lust had brought to him, humming with disapproval. There was trouble sirring up in Amestris' relationship with.Drachma, and there was another mine being build in a location was would _obstruct_ his circle. He was certain he had instructed the current Furher to forbid any such thing. They must have found something of value, but whatever it was he could just transmute it himself and appease them so they would refrain from digging. If that wasn't enough, he could always send in Envy to _scare_ them out of the mines and have Lust take out any officials who give them trouble about it.

With a sigh, Father set the letters aside and reclined in his throne. Only a century and a half, and two more homunculi to go before all this would pay off. His newest son held great potential, Father mused, wondering what else he could be of use for when not digging his tunnel. Maybe a bodyguard, not that Father needed one. He was too dependent to go on missions himself- not stealthy and precise enough. He had virtually no control over his gift of speed, so now Father was realizing it might actually be a... useless power. It couldn't be, though. Certainly it will come in handy somewhere down the road.

The homunculus in question was currently sleeping beside his throne, as Greed and Envy had gotten away from bringing him along on whatever it was those kids did with all their free time. Father reached over to stroke Sloth's hair in a mockery of human parental affection.  
Maybe he would get along better with Pride.  
Greed and Envy weren't good at giving orders, but Pride might provide adequet structure and discipline. He'll have to find the time to supervise Sloth in the tunnel.then, between his covert operations posing as a child above.  
Yes, that would work. That would be perfect. Father always had the most clever ideas.

The more currently pressing matters at hand needed attention, though. No one else was around, and Father wasn't going send Sloth to go handle those complicated and diplomatic issues. Fortunately, his firstborn decided to pay another visit to the lair.

__

_" Ah, Pride! Back so soon? "_

" Yes, Father. I'm sure Lust has been a dutiful informant, but I feel it necessary to bring these things more attention. The Furher has let miners dig for amethyst in in the south, and he's been agitating the Drachmans up north with increased border security and tariffs on trade- word of Drachma wanting to expand has made things politically tense. Also, if you're not already aware, part of your lair has been destroyed and i think- " 

Father waved his hand dismissively.  
" That man is really becoming a thorn in my side now, isn't he? Humans arent loyal, theyre so invested in their own worldly drama. I'm going to have to find a replacement for him. " 

Pride listened in silence, shadows sinking down to pool around the throne. 

" I wish I could install one of you to take the place of Furher, " Father said, and Pride wished it could be him, but his bodily container would make that unacceptabe. 

" Unfortunately you all have your own places that come first. Perhaps i can arrange something in the future, but for now I want you to find a new Furher for me. I'll have Lust take the current one out when the time comes, and she can handle the negotiations too. " 

Pride clicked his teeth in annoyance- Father always gave Lust the important political missions. He was supposed to be the favorite, the prized eldest son, not Lust. Father had been showing favoritism towards her lately. 

" However, I'll also be sending you down south to take.care of those miners, since I know you'll be the one to handle that most efficiently. " Father said, trying to flatter Pride to make up for the dirty work he had just assigned. 

Internally, Pride cringed. That was work for Greed or Envy, since when was he the one cleaning out nests of humans for Father? Of course he was the best of them at doing so, but couldn't he have better things to do? 

" Thank you Father. I'll get to it immediately. " Pride hid his disappointment, and Father was satisfied. 

Lingering in the lair, Pride realized Sloth was still here, curled up at Father's throne like a dog. How did Greed and Envy get away from watching him like Father asked? He had chains on his wrists now too- Pride considered asking about it. 

" Father... Why is Sloth still here? " He said coyly. 

" He... had difficulty controlling the power bestowed upon him. Greed and Envy could not help him, so I had to make accommodations, but all is well now. " 

Pride narrowed his eyes. Sounded to him like Sloth was already becoming a burden.  
Shameful. 

" I see. Well, goodbye for now, Father. I'll report back to you soon. " 

" I'll be waiting, Pride. " 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a short little chapter, things will actually start to happen from here on out, lol.


	4. Tedious

The lair was quiet for a few days, while everyone was off doing either Father's bidding or anything but. Sloth had not moved from his place- and had slept peacefully in the absence of his brothers. 

Father paid him little mind, simply doing his father-ly things like transmuting gold, reading the daily paper, illustrating what only could have been ideas for how his next son would look. Father wasnt very good at drawing. The thing looked like a circle with a crude and simple smiley face. Totally unrealistic- how could anything possibly look like that?

The lair's peace really hadn't lasted long enough, as both Father and Sloth would come to agree, and it was soon shattered by the reckless two children who had returned after playing their lengthy game of hooky.

" Father won't be mad at us, right? Greed, I swear if you get me in trouble for this-! "

" _Relax_ Envy! We didn't even stay out that long, and don't try and act like you didn't tag along on your own accord. " 

Envy was scared of getting on Father's bad side- a large part of them wanted to be the favored child so they could snitch on and get leverage over Greed as they pleased. Greed was the delinquent child- and as fun and carefree as that lifestyle was, Envy just didn't want Father to see them like that. God only know what he would do if he thought they were hanging with Greeds human friends... that would be treason!

As the two sauntered into the lair, Greed decided to take the stealthy approach and attempt to sneak past Father- who was very still, possibly even asleep. He didn't get very far, and just as he thought he had made it to his " room ", Father's booming voice called upon his name.

" Greed. Why must you continue to disobey me? "

Greed cringed, slowly turning around to face Father, avoiding eye contact.

" Jeez old man, you make it sound like I'm a bad dog or something. I'm back home now, so I'll just do whatever job you have for me to make it up to you, alright? " he said sheepishly.

Father pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing deeply. 

" I'm afraid I don't feel inclined to let you off so easy, Greed. You're staying home, and you will not _leave_ home until I grant you that liberty. Are we clear? "

Greed gasped, sporting a rotten look on his face. 

" Hey now you don't get to do that to me! I'm old enough that I don't need YOU telling me what I can and cant do! NO one gets in the way of what I want! NO ONE! "

Greed may have been the 3rd eldest, but his immaturity had yet to disappear. Normally he was the cool, suave and rebellious older sibling, but now he was throwing a fit just like he used to when he was first born. Anything he couldn't have in his possession was something for him to fuss over, no different from his freedom to leave the lair, and the careful watch of Father and his elder siblings.

Father shook his head, saying nothing as he rose from his throne. The tubes and pipes that were attached to his back disconnected, and Father rose a hand in Greed's direction.

" You wanna fight me, old man?! Let's GO!! " Greed said, drawing his ultimate shield up and taking an offensive posture.

Father had no such intentions- he was simply putting an end up Greed's trouble for the day. With no effort at all, he transmuted a large stone hand from the ground and in seconds, captured Greed within it and confined the troublesome child in it's grasp. 

Greed's yelling and fussing was silenced from behind the stone tomb, and the lair was again filled with that peaceful silence. Less peaceful now, as there was still thick tension coming from Envy as they stood rooted to the spot, pale faced in fear of how Father may punish them. 

Father turned around to look at them, expression softening just a little bit.

" Envy, you know I'm disappointed in you. Please don't let Greed influence you like this, I don't need any more of my children thinking its okay to behave so insolent and foolishly. " Father said sternly.  
" Consider this your warning. "

Envy nodded quickly, looking at the ground in submission. They still had the chance to be better than Greed- no, they WERE better than Greed, if not, then Father wouldn't be so easy on him. They just had to be better at behaving themself, that's all. Not push their luck.

" Got it. I won't hang out with Greed anymore. " Envy said.

" Good. " Father replied.

" ... Where's Lust? "

" She's busy. Ive sent her to go settle some affairs. Pride is busy as well. "

Envy sighed. Now they had no company...  
They approached Father's throne after he had sat back down, stepping over Sloth, who was awake as of Greed's tantrum but still unmoved, to look at the papers and clutter on the stone desk.

" What's this? " Envy said, picking up the drawing Father had made. It looked like a cartoon of a... dumpling? A ball?

" Gluttony. " Father said.

Envy quickly had to repress any urge to react with laughter or negativity.

" I can't guarantee the finished product will look anything like that, but I can only do so much. He will be an artificial gate of Truth, you see. So we can skip the unnessecary steps involved with opening the gate. "

Envy felt it wrong to doubt their Father but... looking at how poorly Sloth came out, how could he possibly hope to achieve such ambitious results with Gluttony? Maybe he would figure something out. Father always figures it out.

Now they were just bored. Didn't Father at least have work for them to do? Weren't they needed at all? Envy paced around for a bit, restless and in need of _something._   
Since there was nothing else to do, they settled on pestering Sloth, hopping up to sit themselves right on his massive shoulders as he lie hunched over near Father's throne.  
Apparently the action startled him, causing the homunculus to flinch and shoot them an uncomfortable glare.

" And what have _you_ been up to, little bro? Let me guess- you had a dream about _sleeping_ some more. " Envy said in a snobby tone of voice.   
" I don't understand how you can just do nothing like this all day, every day. Its sounds like torture! Aren't you bored? Unfulfilled? "

Sloth was beginning to get annoyed with Envy.   
" Too much of a bother... " he muttered, planting his face to the floor.

Envy rolled his eyes. " Of course it is. Why am I not surprised? "   
Sloth was very uncoversational. At least he could bicker with Greed or gossip with Lust. Gluttony had better be more interesting than this.

Rocking back and fourth, Envy continued to make criticizing observations, and talk about things Sloth absolutely did not care to hear about. They tried killing time by copying him, mimicking Greed, pretending to be Lust. They played with his hair and attempted to move the Immovable Object- as they came to call him, which was amusing given his power as an unstoppable force. 

They didn't know how much time had passed until their Sister had finally returned to make a brief report to Father, and finally pose an opportunity for Envy to be involved in important business.

" Lust! " Envy called out, hopping away from his lounge spot on top of Sloth to come greet her.  
" Lust, can I come with you?? " 

The elder sister gave them a side glance, realizing how bored Envy must be to ask to come with her for *work*, even tough the answer had been no every time in the past. 

" How about you ask Father? "

Envy sighed, but went along with it anyways.  
" Father, can I go with her? Please? I wont cause any trouble, I promise- " Envy said, looking to Father with hope in his eyes.

Father hesitated, but decided he was sick of hearing Envy annoy Sloth nonstop and that some peace and quiet would be preferable. 

" Alright. You can go- but don't raise any suspicion. You and Lust will have to come up with a good excuse as to why she has company now. "

" Yes! Come on Lust, let's get going already! I'm getting cabin fever being stuck in here with _Sloth_! " Envy said, beckoning her towards the exit.

Lust bid Father farewell and followed Envy out the door, scoffing with amusement.   
" At least you're getting along with your new little brother, Envy. Considering your vile personality, I'm quite impressed. "

" What, you think I'm not capable of being friendly? Everyone loves me, it just comes natural! "

That bald-faced lie actually made Lust laugh. Envy could be quiet amusing sometimes. Their company may actually make her mission a bit more interesting.

They were soon gone, and the lair was quiet again, Although is one listened closely, they might be able to hear Greed trying to claw away at his stone prison...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heres the next chapter, finally! Not much to say about it, but i would like to invite you to my FMA discord server here: https://discord.gg/BdGBFu8 , should you be interested!! 
> 
> I made that server sometime this past winter and most everyone whos currently there came from tumblr. We're a small and sometimes quiet server, but we do our best to make sure everyone feels included and heard in there (=   
> ( you aren't not obligated to only talk explicitly about FMA, thats just the server theme and the common interest that brings us together ^^/ )


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